Summary

A cat narrates a day of chaos and discomfort caused by an accidental building fire, a power outage, and the subsequent reactions of its owner and neighbors.

Abstract

The story recounts a day in the life of a cat whose routine is disrupted by an apartment fire alarm, leading to a power outage in the neighborhood. The cat's owner, concerned for its safety, prepares for potential emergencies, including a hotel stay, which distresses the cat. The outage reveals the human dependency on electricity and causes stress among the residents, including the cat, who is surrounded by children and strangers during the blackout. The cat cleverly feigns fainting to escape the unwanted attention. The power is eventually restored, and it is revealed that a raccoon caused the outage by interfering with electrical equipment.

Opinions

The cat views the day's events as a series of unfortunate and disturbing occurrences, emphasizing its own inconvenience and distress.
The cat's owner is perceived as overly dramatic and melodramatic in their responses to the power outage and potential emergencies.
The cat has a clear disdain for children and strangers, expressing a strong preference for solitude and its own company.
The cat cleverly manipulates its owner's fears to avoid being taken to a hotel, showcasing its cunning nature.
The cat seems to have a sense of superiority due to its night vision and thick fur, which it believes makes it better equipped to handle the power outage than its human counterparts.
The story ends with a subtle critique of human reliance on electricity, highlighting the chaos that ensues when it is suddenly unavailable.

LIFE | CREATIVITY | INSPIRATION

One Outage Makes Life Topsy-Turvy

A cat’s perspective

I’m back with a horrifying story of my life and its unending problems. Ah! That day did not start well. There was something wrong in the building, tearing my earlobes apart; I could only hear the sirens of the emergency vehicles jamming into our driveway. 😼☺️

Was a cat’s life in danger? No. Nothing as serious as that. 😼

An irresponsible person had left the stove on in the kitchen, alerting the fire alarms. I was very disturbed and my hooman servant had to cancel classes due to the commotion. Poor me, I had to take refuge in the hidden passageway (heating duct area) without food and water for hours. Awful! 😼😼

I came out in the evening making sure all the noises had stopped. Everything looked calm and quiet and the hooman was busy in the kitchen preparing dinner.

Then boom! The power went off, and the house became pitch dark. At first, I thought, she must have switched off the lights by accident, but then when I peeped outside, the buildings across from us were in darkness, too. 😼😻

Technically, I have perfect night vision, so technically there was no problem, but I started puking for no reason. She got nervous. I know she’s so melodramatic.😻😻

Things got really bad for me when she put me in the carriage (the thing in which I go to meet my vet). It’s the scariest place in this whole universe. 😼😼

Why was I tortured like this? I have no clue. Apparently, she wanted me to be near her in case we had to go to a hotel. 😼

Wait. What? I freaked out even more and started yelling at the top of my lungs (okay-meowing and hissing). 😻😻

There was no way I was going to step out of the house.

“Well Luke,” came her sharp retort, “we’ll be frozen in the minus-degree temperature without the heating.”

No. Hooman. You’ll be frozen, not me. Remember, I have thick fur for protection. I muttered to myself. I knew she wouldn’t leave without me, so I waited for the worse. 😼😻

Meanwhile, she filled up water in pots and pans, in case the water shuts off, too. I was fine with that.

Then she went out of the home to knock on the neighbor’s door at the end of the corridor just to check up on an old lady and if she needed water or a flashlight. I decided to put my head down for a bit.

Alas, the relief was short-lived. There was a deluge of kids upon me (okay, four 😂😻).

Sometimes, I don’t know what to do with this hooman. She knows I hate the company, especially of the kids. I don’t like anyone besides myself.

Then, I saw two or three ladies coming inside the house without my permission to get a flashlight, battery bank, water, vegetable pulao, and mango salad. These young mothers were not prepared for this sudden blackout and since it was dinnertime, the kids were hungry.

I thought to myself, how these hoomans are so dependent on electricity? Their life comes to a standstill, causing them stress and inconvenience. Phone lines were jammed, and the website was down to the number of calls made to the hydro company, so we didn’t know the reason for the sudden power outage.

The kids had surrounded me from all sides and, despite my hissing; they were not ready to back away. It was the most horrible time of my life. I’m so mad at this hooman and I’m writing this story to get some sympathy and love from you all. 😻😻

How did I get rid of those terrible strangers? I stopped breathing for some minutes and pretended to faint. This hooman got really frightened and shooed everyone away immediately. I only opened my eyes and started breathing normally when the carriage door was opened. I’ve taken a pledge not to set foot in this cage and repeat my performance whenever she forces me inside again. Do you guys agree with my strategy? 😻😻

Epilogue: the power was restored within an hour. A rogue raccoon was the culprit who unfortunately died due to the high voltage when it tried to bite off the electrical equipment in the transmission station.*

Paw-goodbye for now.

Sincere thanks to Denise Larkin for giving my creative pieces a safe haven in her publication: ❤️❤️ Following The Lark Publication’s Facebook Page here.

Write for The Lark

Submission guidelines for a short story and poetry publication

medium.com

*Reference:

Raccoon to blame for massive power outage in midtown Toronto and Scarborough, says Hydro One

A raccoon is to blame for a power outage Friday evening that affected midtown Toronto and Scarborough, according to…

www.thestar.com

Thank you for reading my story. ❤️❤️ Get email alerts when I publish: https://faimam.medium.com/subscribe Become a member through my referral link: https://faimam.medium.com/membership| Find me on LinkedIn| Twitter Instagram|